Laboratories

In the Division of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering there are two Laboratories :

1. Laboratory of Geotechnical Engineering (LGE), (Establishment of the LGE)

Director: Professor Panagiotis Dakoulas

2. Laboratory of Computational Geotechnical Engineering (LCGE), (Establishment of the LCGE)

Director: Professor Emilios Comodromos

Description of the Laboratories: 

 1. Laboratory of Geotechnical Engineering

The Laboratory of Geotechnical Engineering (LGE) started operating in 1996 as a basic teaching laboratory (Establishment of the LGE). In 2009 it was significantly upgraded with advanced experimental equipment suitable for basic research.

The objectives of the Laboratory are:

• To provide a high level of teaching infrastructure and modern experimental equipment in the field of geotechnical engineering and geotechnical seismic engineering.
• The provision of a high level of research infrastructure and experimental equipment for conducting research projects in the field of geotechnical engineering and geotechnical seismic engineering.
• The support of the teaching and research needs of the postgraduate program of the Department of Civil Engineering.
• The provision of laboratory or in-situ geotechnical surveys of high fidelity and advisory services for the analysis, design, quality control and reliability of public and private infrastructure projects.

The LGE includes the following equipment:

• Advanced "state-of-the-art" tubular shape test apparatus for monotonic and dynamic exploration of soil behavior in small and large deformations. This experimental device permits the automatic impose (by computer) of axial force and torque in order to change the three principal stresses in the ground element. It is unique in Greece and is used for the development and improvement of constitutive relations of soils under monotonic and recycling loading.
• Triaxial device for the investigation of mechanical properties of soil with automatic data acquisition
• Direct shear device with automatic data acquisition
• One-dimensional compression/solidification device with automatic data acquisition
• Vane shear test device
• Proctor test devices
• Device for creation of natural models of geotechnical constructions
• Atterberg limits devices
• Mechanical and hydraulic granulometric analysis devices
• Permeability testing devices
• Point load test device
• Automatic data acquisition systems
• Devices for in-situ strength detection and penetrometer
• Elements of drilling column (cutting edges, piping, etc.)
• Air Compressor
• Vacuum pumps
• Water degassing and distillation systems
• Ovens, scales, other equipment

As almost all equipment in the LGE until 2008 was mainly intended for teaching, only limited experimental research was carried out. This study includes the investigation of: (a) the strength and deformability of cement-clay mixtures, (b) the efficiency of the condensation of sand-clay mixtures, (c) the behavior of eccentric charging of impellers, (d) the strength of pure sands and mixtures, (e) the behavior of sensitive clays in one dimensional loading, (f) the permeability of natural soils, and (g) the behavior of natural cemented soils. On the contrary, considerable emphasis was placed on analytical research based on the numerical simulation of the behavior of soil-structure systems.

By acquiring the advanced state-of-the-art tubular shape apparatus for the monotonous and dynamic exploration of soil behavior in small and large deformations, they open new research directions to create or improve constructive relationships for soil materials.

2. Laboratory of Computational Geotechnical Engineering

The Laboratory of Computational Geotechnical Engineering (LCGE) (Establishment of the LCGE) serves the teaching, research and production need in the subject areas related to:

(a) Simulation and solving of soil-structure interaction problems,

(b) Determination of soil-structure response in the context of interaction and geostructures’ response under static and dynamic loadings,

(c) Simulation and planning of infrastructure projects,

(d) Comparison of results of numerical methods and simplified limit equilibrium methodologies as well as proposing simplified empirical control relations and definition of their scope,

(e) Development of software for the above fields of research, development of dynamic data exchange algorithms between programs for faster processing of results and automation of computer feeding with data,

(f) Developing internal programming subroutines in programs that allow this action and are part of the infrastructure already in place or enrich the laboratory's computational library in the future.